Suspended Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon failed a drug test last month, according to multiple reports.
Fox Sports, which first reported the news, cited a source informed of the test results that Gordon's sample was positive for marijuana and dilute. Both Gordon's "A" and "B" samples were positive for marijuana and dilute, Fox Sports reported. According to the report, the level of marijuana in the wide receiver's system was below the 35 nanogram threshold, but the diluted sample is the same as a positive test by the NFL's standards.
Neither the NFL nor the Browns commented. A league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Gordon's potential reinstatement will be delayed until NFL officials feel comfortable he has 60-90 days of no "red-flag tests." There has been increasing concern within the Browns' organization about whether Gordon will be reinstated, a source told Schefter.
Gordon took to Twitter shortly after the reports surfaced and appeared unconcerned.
Call me if u need a real story worth writing.. 🙄
— Flash Gordon (@JOSH_GORDONXII) April 11, 2016
The news comes on the heels of sources telling ESPN that Gordon is living with former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel off of Sunset Boulevard. Manziel had told TMZ that he was living with Von Miller. The Denver Broncos linebacker said in an Instagram post Monday that Manziel wasn't living with him, but the quarterback was his "brother" and he has his back.
Manziel, who went to rehab last year, told TMZ he had been out in West Hollywood five to six nights in a row, and said he doesn't think NFL teams have a problem with his partying.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with partying, bro," Manziel said. "There's a difference between partying and being out of control."
Gordon, who has been suspended since last February, applied to the league for reinstatement earlier this year, formally asking commissioner Roger Goodell to allow him back.
Though it was widely noted that the NFL would have 60 days to make a decision on Gordon's reinstatement, an NFL spokesman clarified the timeline to ESPN's Field Yates last month, saying: "There is no requirement that a reinstatement decision be made in 60 days. We endeavor to develop the necessary information to make a decision in that time frame, but the actual decisions are made when appropriate."
Gordon, who was suspended for multiple violations of the league's substance abuse policy, failed an alcohol test last year, wiping out the talented receiver's 2015 season.
At the NFL's owners meetings last month, Browns coach Hue Jackson and director of football operations Sashi Brown said the team needed to have a conversation with Gordon if he was reinstated to determine his frame of mind before deciding whether he would be back with the Browns.
Gordon, 24, made the Pro Bowl in 2013 when he led the league with 1,646 yards receiving despite playing just 14 games. Gordon also had nine touchdowns that season.
However, he hasn't been able to stay out of trouble.
After Gordon pleaded guilty to driving while impaired on July 5, 2014, in Raleigh, North Carolina, he was required to submit to alcohol testing under the third stage of the league's mandated program. Gordon said he drank on a flight to Las Vegas a few days after the 2014 season ended and failed a subsequent test. Gordon had assumed any restrictions ended after the season, but he didn't clarify that with the league.
Gordon was initially suspended for the 2014 season after testing positive for marijuana. His penalty was later reduced to 10 games after the league and NFLPA changed their substance abuse policies. Gordon had to sit out two games in 2013 for a failed drug test, which he blamed on taking prescription cough medicine.
Information from ESPN's Pat McManamon and The Associated Press was used in this report.